Nooshafarin / Gol-e Aftab Gardoon

Fatima Abdi (born in 1956 in Teheran), better known by her stage name Nooshafarin is a popular Iranian singer and actress. She is part of a large network of Iranian singer, composer, and songwriter exiles of the 1970s era who live and work in Southern California. Her name means “creator of joy” in Persian.

Although initiated into acting, she always dreamt of becoming a singer - according to her own personal account. Whether her involvements with actors which led her to become acquainted with singers (both of these professions were closely connected in 1970s Iran) led her to music is also not clear. However, she maintains she wanted to pursue singing as her primary interest from the beginnings.

After her introduction to Fereydoon Khoshnood, also a musician starting his singing career, the two agreed on a joint partnership to create music. Her first song Ghebleh was the result of this collaboration. The first airing of this song was on Fereydoon Farokhzad’s show: Mikhak Noghreyi. The song ranked high on music charts and garnered the two notability. This was Nooshafarin’s formal introduction to the public. She says she will always remain indebted to Khoshnood for his contributions that led her to fame with this hit single.